Another World Trip: Journey with My Cat and an Otaku Loli Goddess Chapter 160 - Shadow Silk

Then again, with how temperamental cats were, this was pretty much the equivalent of a ticking time bomb.

“I sure hope Pebbles doesn’t get jealous.”

****

“You’re pretty brave to have owned a cat,” expressed Shen Ling as she kept a wary eye on the Shidashi Mao.

“Others don’t?” I’m pretty sure they had cats in ancient China. I mean, I watched Sagwa The Chinese Siamese Cat. You can Google that if you want.

We were making our way through Thousand Emo Valley at the moment. I wish I could get some answers for what happened not long ago, but I’ll probably get my answer in the fullness of time.

“People are too afraid of Shidashi Maos since anything and everything related to them is rejected or shunned,” she replied with a shake of her head.

“Cats are A-holes,” I couldn’t argue that point.

I’m somewhere in the neighbourhood of 93% of the belief that all cat owners are closet masochists. You can’t have a pet like that without deriving some pleasure from pain, shunning, or the occasional death stare for simply existing. My old world really did mess me up.

“They’re adorable A-holes where I’m from, so we kinda give em a pass,” I said with a shrug.

“The Shidashi Maos are too much a symbol of fear, so we don’t find either of them… c-cute.”

She found it difficult to use the words Shidashi Mao and cute in the same sentence.

“Do you know why everyone just went batshit crazy not long ago?” I asked her while looking around Thousand Emo Valley with a wandering eye.

She shook her head to indicate that she didn’t. She then asked, “Are you sure it’s fine to just leave them be?”

“It’ll be hard to get them to comply, considering they’re all busy being insufferable brain tumours.”

“Busy being what?” Shen Ling wasn’t familiar with some of the words he was using.

“Nothing,” I looked around until I spotted one decrepit building that had the word shop on it. Well, ain’t that convenient.

“What are you looking for, exactly?” she finally asked.

“A clothes store.”

As you can see, I have my priorities in order.

“And you’re just heading to a building that says store?” she questioned.

“As far as I’m concerned they’re halfway to being what I want them to be,” I’m well aware of the copious number of stores that exist. I just have to hope this is the one I’m looking for.

I need some fresh new drip that befits my MC status. I’ve been going around in rags for the better part of days. That cannot be good for my image.

Please let this be the place that fixes that. As I came closer, I could see the word ‘Shop’ was faded and the remaining paint that was left was even peeling off.

In addition, the building was covered in thorns and was overrun by dark vines. The one place clear of its mark was the door, and it was most likely this way due to its frequent use.

Creak…

The door opened with a groaning scrape. The smell of rotting cloth assaulted the senses, but it was oddly… inviting. The inside was pretty dark, a bit worse than the outside.

I was still able to see quite well on account of my cultivation. The same could be said for Shen Ling as well even though it was to a lesser extent I’m sure.

“What do you want?” a raspy voice could be heard from behind a counter that was hilariously filled with clothes.

“Clothes,” I answered.

“Get out,” the voice ordered.

Well, then gotta hand it to him for being quick and to the point.

“Okay then. Let’s go, Shen Ling,” I headed for the door with Shen Ling in tow. I hope the other stores I check are just as direct as this guy.

“Wait!” the voice called out.

Maybe not.

“What?” I looked back to the counter in genuine confusion. You’d be surprised how many of those aren’t real. I’m a troll.

“You’re just leaving?” the voice was even more confused.

“It’s how I learned to get out.”

The voice was a little thrown off by my answer, but still asked. “I see, but don’t you want to know why I said that?”

Okay, now I get it. This is one of those tropes where they try to be mysterious in a bid to draw people in. But joke’s on him, I don’t care.

“Meh… listen I’ve mastered the art of not giving a damn,” I decided not to lie.

“Oh,” the voice was a bit shocked.

“Yup.”

“…”

There was a period of awkward silence between us, which brought about the reemergence of an old foe.

Shu, shu, shu…

A tumbleweed came through the door and circled me twice before it exited the same way. My eyes never left it the entire time, and it was as bizarre as always.

“Did you see that?” I pointed at it this time.

“Are you saying that you want to know why everyone in Thousand Emo Valley is acting so weird?”

Mother of… was he ignoring me?

“Did you hear anything I just said?”

“Fine, I’ll tell you,” the voice replied.

I looked to Shen Ling with worry, “A-Am I talking to myself?”

She simply shrugged her shoulders. I then looked to the Shidashi Mao, but the darn thing only meowed before it lay down with its huge head by the door.

“This place has a certain aura that has pervaded it all the way to its core,” the voice started to explain what was happening here.

What the heck is happening here? This man was having a conversation all by himself.

“The aura comes from a cave deep within Thousand Emo Valley.”

I guess I’m listening then.

“The aura unsettles the emotion and causes one to easily become agitated, it’s why the folks in Thousand Emo Valley are so odd to you. It’s the norm here. I don’t sell any of these clothes because I only use Shadow Silk,” the voice explained.

“Well, first of all, that explains why Feng Yu and the others became so insufferable all of a sudden. Second of all, that segue into Shadow Silk was about as smooth as Yaomu Shou’s skin… that is not a compliment by the way. Thirdly, what is Shadow Silk?”

What can I say? I decided to invest in the conversation. I don’t have a say here apparently.

“I’m glad you asked,” the voice responded. “Shadow Silk is a type of material found deep within a cave here in Thousand Emo Valley. It has a very sought-after ability. If crafted into an article of clothing, it grants its wearer a high level of defence. It also passively absorbs darkness-attributed spiritual energy.”

“Darkness attributed spiritual energy!?” Shen Ling was shocked.

“You know what that is?” I raised a brow at her.

She nodded. “Very! It’s an element of spiritual energy that is very rare due to there being almost no cultivation technique that allows one to cultivate it.”

“Exactly!” the voice sounded smug at this point. “All these clothes are the failed outcome of creating shadow silk. It doesn’t have a 100% refinement rate of being crafted into an article of clothing, but I am the best at it and I am sure I can make you a level of work that you’ll be pleased with. I am willing to create a set of outfits for you if you bring back a certain amount of Shadow Silk.”

I stared at the counter that was filled to the brim with clothes for a while before asking. “Did you tell me to get out earlier because you wanted me to show interest in what you were all about so that it would eventually end up with me doing what you wanted whilst you appeared wise and unfathomable even though your role in life could be summarised as exposition and your secondary role to me is you being nothing more than a glorified tailor… ?”

Sssaaaa…

The person behind the counter couldn’t be seen, but if anyone else was in the shop, they would unknowingly describe the sound they heard as someone’s eyes widening in unease and stupefaction.

“Okay, so you’re not going to answer that… fair enough. Can you at least…”

Crap, my spider senses are tingling.

“Where’s the cave?” I asked him.

The voice was a bit flustered, “W-Wha—”

“Cave. Location. Now,” I needed to move right now because of… reasons.

“It’s called Emo Cave, and it’s located in the extreme southern direction from here, through Thorn Passage,” the voice advised.

“Good, you have a deal. Shen Ling, we’re leaving,” without waiting for a response, we left in a rush.

I woke up the Shidashi Mao and quickly boarded it. Shen Ling followed along, a bit worried.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

I took her hand and hoisted her up behind me, “It would seem that your senior apprentice-sister is in trouble.”